


No trust, no love

by sunshine83



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: 1.09 Fix-It, Angst, Brio (Good Girls), Canon-Typical Violence, Cause it needed to be fixed, Conflict Resolution, F/M, Feels, Organized Crime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-04-28 03:13:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14440227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshine83/pseuds/sunshine83
Summary: Beth and Rio had an audience the night they parted ways. Rio's forced to reflect on that moment and encouraged to do something about it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I actually started writing this right after that depressing last episode but I finally just got the ending done. Didn't turn out quite like I wanted but I wanted to go ahead and post it. Hope you like it!

"That was brutal."

Rio turned around to the burly man behind him.

He could see Carlos standing in front of a computer screen that held four different video images. One image held the spot where he and Beth were just standing.

"Could hear ya from in here."

Rio just shook his head minutely and brushed past Carlos. He slouched against a worn brown, leather couch he kept in the warehouse.

To keep his hands busy, Carlos started taking a part his gun and reassembling it. He took a seat in the chair before the computer and swiveled it to face Rio.

"Your girlfriend's a little firecracker."

Rio just glared at him, his one hand massaging his temple. His face stung just a bit from where the sharp keys landed. It nothing compared to what he'd endured before. The biggest blow was that it came from who it did. He didn't think Beth would turn on him like that. It was a test. The truck was empty, it's not like they could've arrested her for driving an empty, clean truck.

Then she goes and accuses him of using her. She may have been right about her role but he wouldn't have set her up for a fall. Rio couldn't help but see her outburst as a betrayal. He didn't want to admit to himself why her actions stung as badly as they did. Anyone else and he would've just gotten rid of them. Whether in the literal since or metaphorically. But her. He was feeling something for her and she threw it in his face.

He didn't need to involve her or her girls into his business. He had a truckload of people to wash his money. It was a fucking factory full of people if she had remembered correctly. Involving them just raised his risk of his money laundering getting noticed. He cut them in because he could see how much they needed it. Dealt with their drama because he liked what he saw in Beth.

For fuck's sake, he practically jumped every time she called. Pearls on the door, jumped. Meetings in cafes, jumped. She wanted him to stay with her longer in the park because she was afraid of the FBI, he stayed. He listened to her pitch about the load she wanted him to sell. He would've even moved her product for her if it wasn't as something as garbage as stupid Botox.

And she better not ever put that poison in her face.

There wasn't much that he _wouldn't_ have done for her. He wasn't much for words. He showed how he cared by actions.

His attention was pulled back to the sound of a gun being repeatedly re-assembled.

"Fuckin knock that off."

He heard a low whistle in response.

"Someone's sassy tonight."

If Carlos were any of Rio's other guys, Rio would have taken that chair out from beneath him and beaten him with it. Regardless of Carlos's big size. Carlos was his second-in-command though, his friend. Had a wife and kids. So Rio put up with his lip. Plus, Carlos has taken more than one bullet for Rio. Wouldn't trust anyone more.

Except for maybe Beth. And look where that got him.

She actually thought he'd kill her.

That was like rubbing salt in the wound. They got past a lot of bullshit to get where they had been before tonight. It was none of her business to know what happened with his kid. It was a second betrayal to think he'd hurt her.

"When are we goin' to her house?"

Rio looked over at Carlos like he had grown a second head.

"What?"

Carlos just shrugged a shoulder and swiveled around in his chair once.

"Just sayin. You ain't stayin away. And that broad ain't comin to you. She thinks you're gonna kill her. Your turn to make nice. You're gonna be a pain in the ass until you make up with her."

Rio just looked at him for a few seconds. "I should fire you."

"What ever, man."

Silence past between them while Rio thought of his next move.

* * *

Rio didn't want to let himself into her house as he normally did. He didn't want to alarm her. Especially after she accused him of showing up to put a bullet in her head. That was gonna sting for a while.

So he had Carlos drop him off by Beth's house and told him to circle the 'hood a couple times until Rio called for him.

Rio walked to her backyard and sat down on the ground. He picked up a couple of small pebbles and started throwing them at the window of her double doors.

He knew she was home and he came at a time that he figured her kids would be in school. If she didn't hear him, he'd try knocking. But he wanted to try it this way first because he hoped it'd scare her less if he was far enough away from her door.

It was like a jagged piece of glass down his throat when he saw how she suddenly became afraid of him after their progress. So. He'd do what needed to be done to show her she could trust him.

On his eighth pebble, her door finally opened.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Beth asked him, momentarily forgetting what state their relationship was currently in.

He took in her appearance. It had been a few days since their fight. It might have been the tension that made it feel much longer.

She was wearing a fitted t-shirt and tight workout pants, her hair down and slightly wild. She looked like she had just gotten fucked.

This made his already sour mood worsen.

"Wanted you to open the door."

Rio said as he stood up, not moving any closer to her.

"Okay." She looked confused and wary now. "What," she sighed, "what do you want?"

Rio noticed the way she hugged her arms in closer to herself. He made one step closer to her and immediately regretted it when she took a step back.

"I ain't gonna hurt you, Beth." He slid his hands in his pockets.

"You _handle_ your rotten eggs." She quietly reminded him.

He ran a hand over his mouth and looked up at her. "You ain't rotten."

"I'm no good to you now. You said you needed me like you do a bullet to the head."

He sighed. "What do you want me to say, Elizabeth?"

She blinked at him once. She tried to keep her face from betraying any emotions. Beth liked it when he used her full name like that. Somehow Rio managed to say it like a way of seducing her.

"Why are you here?"

Beth could see his jaw twitch once, his brows furrowed in much the same way they were the last time she saw him.

"To ask you why you'd ever think that I'd hurt you."

She let out a humorless laugh at that.

"You're kidding? You said we were done. It's not like it's that big of a leap to think you'd get rid of me, of us. One less thing for you to worry about. We're no longer of any use to you now."

Rio was relieved to see Beth stand her ground after he started moving closer to her.

"I don't want to work with you anymore and you think that means I want to kill you?"

She made a face at him that begged him to explain it in another way. As if things were handled differently than what she was implying.

"How I deal with other people who work for me has nothing to do with us."

"Why is this any different?"

Beth could tell that she was challenging him. She wasn't cocky. She knew she still had to be worried about what Rio may do but she couldn't stop her mouth from running. She was confused as to what he was trying to tell her.

"You really think I would've let any of my other people throw something at my face and just walk on home? Or speak to me the way you did? Question me like that?"

She didn't have anything to say so she just looked at the ground and back into his eyes.

Rio pushed his luck and walked right in front of her. He was so close, he could count her eye lashes from where he was standing.

"I'd let you get away with murder, Beth."

Her big eyes met his deep, warm ones.

"So long as I trust you. And you trust me."

They were at a standstill after that. Beth didn't know what to say and Rio left the ball in her court.

"You still trust me?"

Rio smirked at that. "We gotta talk about the way we communicate with each other but yeah. I do."

This encouraged Beth to bring her hand up to the part of his face that she hit with her keys. She always wanted a reason to touch Rio.

His face was stoic but he softened his eyes and let her do as she pleased.

"I'm sorry." She muttered softly, thumb still rubbing the corner of his lips and cheek.

Rio turned his head slightly and softly kissed the inside of her thumb.

"Don't mention it." He said as he leant closer to her.

He smirked at her, "To anyone. My business is mine but it doesn't help if it gets out that an employee disrespects with no consequences."

Beth laughed and took a small step back.

"Consequences?"

Rio took a deep breath and sighed.

"If you and your girls wanna keep working for me, you can. We'll give it a couple weeks though, yeah? Give time for things to die down."

"And you're not mad?"

Rio shrugged putting his hands in his pockets. "You were angry. I didn't tell you the whole story. Forget it happened."

"You said you'd let me get away with murder. I assume that was an expression but why? Why aren't you mad? You seemed pretty pissed the other night. And now we're back in business?"

Rio looked into Beth's eyes for a few seconds before saying plainly,

"I like you."

Beth wasn't sure what she was going to say but whatever it was, it was interrupted by a car honk from the front yard.

"I'll let you get that."

Beth walked inside far enough to see that it was Annie before she walked back outside. Rio was gone by the time Beth went back.


	2. Chapter 2

Her hands were shaking. Beth didn't know how they ended up like this. Rio's words played on a loop in the back of her mind.

" _I like you._ "

She could still see the open look on his face, see how he meant what he said. There was none of the cocky bravado that he normally wore as armor.

And yet they ended up here anyways.

But it wasn't what Rio thought.

Her and the girls believed that he wouldn't hurt them. They toyed with the idea of leading the FBI to Rio and his operation but later decided that it wouldn't be necessary since they no longer felt threatened by him.

That didn't stop Agent Turner from seeking Beth out though. He found her in the park where she was watching Kenny playing soccer. He pulled her to the side and asked her if she had seen Rio since the last time they met. He was full of questions. Asking all the right ones that showed her how suspicious he was of her involvement with him. Apparently he had done some digging and found it very interesting that she somehow unveiled all of this money to recover her house and dealership from the claws of the bank. She wondered how legal it was for him to go seeking out that kind of information but she didn't mention it.

Her lies came as swiftly as they always did. She denied further involvement with Rio. She concocted a magical solution to her financial problems that involved bake sales, charitable donations from those in her life, and a hefty financial bail out that she received from her parents and in-laws.

And of course, Agent Turner simply listened to her and whether he bought it or not, his face didn't say.

She watched him as he turned and left the field. She went back to where she had set up her folding chairs to watch her son score a goal just as she sat down. He looked over at her with a wide, proud smile. And for a second, Beth breathed a relieved sigh that she knew wouldn't last forever.

As always, she was right.

It was as if she knew to expect something as cliche as Rio somehow finding out that Agent Turner spoke with her. It didn't help matters that just three days after her conversation with Agent Turner that Rio and many of his employees were arrested for a number of charges.

Beth sat in the hospital chair full of shock. She was shocked after learning that Dean had lied about having cancer. She was disgusted with him and herself for buying such a disastrous lie and letting him back into the house. But most of all she was shocked to watch as the man that she came to care so much for was being carted away in handcuffs on the TV above her. Beth was disgusted all over again at the thought that for just a moment, she wanted to do that to Rio. And glad that she didn't and confused over how it happened.

She came home that night and found herself in her current situation. Her house a mess, her hands shaking, and Dean and Rio looking busted up sitting at her table.

"Why?" He asked her.

Dean was sitting there next to Rio, slumped over and looked to his side at Rio's question.

"I didn't do this." Beth was scared. She was so scared that she couldn't stop her hands from shaking but her voice came out firm and full of conviction. She wasn't scared of what Rio would do to her. She was scared of Rio believing that she would do this to _him_. Beth was terrified that whatever she and Rio had would be destroyed because he believed that she would do this. Especially after he told her how he felt about her. Hell if their roles were reversed and she believed what he probably believed, there's no telling what she would do at such a betrayal.

"Why should I believe you?"

Rio looked so angry. He looked angrier than she had ever seen him.

"Because why would I even do this, Rio?"

Beth's voice started to rise. She couldn't believe that this was where they were. Him confessing his feelings for her and now he suddenly believes that she'd be capable of hurting him like this after that.

"Money. Fear. You don't trust me. What was your game plan, darlin'?"

"What?" She hissed.

Rio leaned over his knees, his hand stroking over his chin, the other having a firm hold on the back of Dean's neck.

"You talk to the FBI, they cut you a deal, offer up somethin' nice and cozy. This fucker promisin' you the world, was that it?" He snapped Dean's head up when he mentioned him.

"Is that what you think?"

Beth was torn between feeling desperate that Rio would hate her over this and furious that he would think so lowly of her.

"That's what I fucking know," he roared.

Rio shoved Dean's head to the side. He shot up out of his chair and didn't even blink as it flew on its side. Rio advanced on her like a cheetah after a gazelle. If that gazelle had broken the cheetah's heart, of course.

"You were seen, darlin'."

He stood face to face with her. She could see the cuts on his face. As absurd as it sounded she still wanted to clean and kiss every one of them. His angry face doing nothing to deter her.

"What do you mean?" She maintained his eye contact.

He leaned in even closer to her ear.

"When you have public meetings with the FBI in broad daylight, someone's gonna see you."

He pulled back to look at her once more.

"Especially when we go down three days later." This time it came out as a growl. His eyes looked darker than before. She could see minute twitches in his jaw and facial muscles.

Beth felt that she was going to lose her mind.

"Rio," she started patiently.

Before he could interrupt her she continued, "He approached me. I didn't want to talk to him. I didn't _tell_ him anything. He asked me about you. He asked me how I managed to save my house and business." She cut her glare to Dean.

"And I told him _nothing_. I lied. Denied having anything to do with you. Came up with a story about how I saved my house. What ever he knows, he didn't get it from me."

She poured so much honesty and emotion into her speech, praying that he would believe her. _Needing_ him to believe her.

Beth could see the motion in Rio's throat from when he swallowed thickly. His eyes still black as onyx, cold and giving nothing away.

He repeated his question from before, more slowly. This time it sounded rough and hoarse, like he had just been yelling for an hour.

"Why should I believe you?"

She took a big inhale and released it slowly.

"Because I would never do anything to hurt you."

She looked into his eyes one last time before shifting her gaze to his cheek, not wanting to see his expression when she whispered,

"Because I love you."

Beth definitely did not want to look at Rio now. She was embarrassed. She knew for sure that she had read this whole thing wrong. That no amount of sweet words were going to reverse all of this damage. She'd be lucky if he didn't kill one or both of them right now in their own house. She loved Rio, she really did. And she trusted him. But if he truly believed that she ratted him out, there was nothing that she could do if he wanted to _take care of it_. If he believed it, then he believed that she hurt him, she betrayed him, and didn't care at all about him. None of which were true.

She startled when she felt a hand lift her chin. He made her look at him.

"That right?"

When she looked up at him she was relieved to see that he wasn't so angry anymore. His lips didn't have the playful smirk that they usually had but at least they appeared softer now.

"Yes." Her voice had gone soft, exhausted from the long day.

She studied his face as he nodded once. He turned around to face Dean.

"Leave. Don't call the cops. Don't tell anyone what happened. If you do, I _will_ finish what I started."

Dean looked up at Beth, afraid for her to be alone here with this psycho.

"It's fine Dean. You should go. Go to your parents. If they see you, just tell them you got jumped somewhere, didn't see who did it, and there were no witnesses."

"But Beth,"

She cut him off, "I'm safe here, Dean. But you aren't. So go."

He slowly walked out of the house, not seeing the satisfied smirk on Rio's lips.

"Oh you safe now?"

He teased her. His arm coming up to wrap around her waist.

She turned to look at him, smiling despite how tired she was.

"Yes. I love you, and I trust you."

Rio's smile faltered.

"You shouldn't."

She was beginning to get irritated again.

"Excuse me?"

"We're dangerous here, darlin'. You shouldn't trust me. Why do you?"

Beth leaned her weight into Rio's half embrace. She buried her face into his chest, feeling his soft clothes rub against her face.

He could barely make out her mumbled words.

"Because I think you love me just as much as I love you."

Rio circled both of his arms around her and leaned his face into her hair, inhaling deeply.

"You ain't wrong." He finally said.

To which she responded,

"Let's just go to bed."

She caught his filthy grin on their way upstairs.

"To _sleep_."

He laughed quietly, "Whatever you say, mama."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've decided that I hate the ending of the season finale. Not just the plot but I hated Rio's whole speech about taking over the king, that was just nonsense. Plus, I hated how Beth just turned into a quivering mess. Their whole dynamic in that last scene did not match their personalities at all from the season leading up to it. So I decided that was crap and rewrote another one.  
> Hope you guys enjoyed!


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